What is the focus of network traffic analysis?

Network traffic analysis primarily focuses on analyzing patterns in network communications. This involves monitoring and reviewing data packets transmitted over a network to identify trends, anomalies, and overall performance. By examining this data, security professionals can gain insights into network usage, detect potential security threats, and optimize network resources.

Understanding traffic patterns helps in identifying unusual activities that could indicate malicious attempts to breach the network, as well as understanding bandwidth usage which can guide infrastructure improvements. The analysis can also assist in troubleshooting issues within the network, ensuring smoother operation and better performance.

Other options, while they may relate to general networking or security tasks, do not encapsulate the core focus of network traffic analysis as distinctly as analyzing communication patterns does. Identifying network users is part of the broader context but does not address the comprehensive examination of traffic trends. Improving hardware performance and measuring download speeds are more about performance metrics rather than in-depth traffic analysis.